


signals crossing can get confusing

by astrangetypeofchemistry



Category: The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe, And gays have forsaken grammar, Arson, Background Jace/Clary, Budding Romance, Cop!Helen, Defense Attorney!Aline, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, No angst here, No capitalization in the fic because I'm gay, THIS IS SELF-INDULGENT, Tension, There is no plot, While arso working on opposite sides, very B99-esque, working a case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 00:50:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17193380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astrangetypeofchemistry/pseuds/astrangetypeofchemistry
Summary: the woman standing in front of her couldn’t be a defense attorney. she was too full of life, too beautiful in a kept-together and perfect way. defense attorneys were scum, low-lives who kept criminals from repenting for their crimes.aline penhallow was too beautiful to be such a person.





	signals crossing can get confusing

“detective blackthorn?” the captain called, and helen looked up from her file, watery eyes blinking fatigue away. “don’t leave your suspect in the interrogation room for too long.”

“copy that,” she said, giving a small wave as the captain headed out. her eyes scanned her suspect’s original confession again, committing every word to memory and hoping a new confession would offer discrepancies.

it wasn’t  _really_  a tough case. an artists’s gallery burning down right in the middle of a huge domestic argument? it only seemed right that the fiancé had done it. factor in the guilty party’s incredible wealth, lack of alibi, and refusal to cooperate with questioning and. well, helen’s job was basically done.

except for the part where the primary suspect refused to cooperate. he had a filthy habit of disappearing while helen was following him, and had a smart mouth that jibed more than answered questions. 

but now, helen finally had him in her clutch. she’d gotten the victim to convince her fiancé that his questioning was important and, slight arson aside, he seemed more than willing to comply with her demands. 

it didn’t make sense how someone who acted so in love could’ve destroyed his partner’s beloved creations, but helen had learned long ago that people did unpredictable things in the name of love. 

as the elevator door opened, helen realized lying about complying with police interrogations was one of those things. 

* * *

 

“detective blackthorn? my name is aline penhallow, and i represent mr. herondale.” 

helen shut the file and pushed it away, feeling her headache building before she even turned around. couldn’t jace herondale, in his cocky rich lifestyle, just accept that he’d been caught?

she, of course, didn’t voice that, because that was unprofessional. 

“attorney penhallow,” helen greeted, only to turn around and freeze. 

the woman standing in front of her  _couldn’t_  be a defense attorney. she was too full of life, too beautiful in a kept-together and perfect way. defense attorneys were scum, low-lives who kept criminals from repenting for their crimes. 

aline penhallow was too beautiful to be such a person. 

“I believe you have my client in this precinct?” attorney penhallow interrupted smugly, a cruel smile twisting her lips, and helen let her previous train of thought drop. 

nope. just as scum as all the others. 

“I don’t understand the third degree,” helen said, rolling her chair out and standing up. she noticed attorney penhallow’s eyes watching her as she stretched her arms above her head. 

and then, to screw with her, she stretched her back instead. 

“it’s not like he’s been arrested,” helen continued, slowly making the way to the interrogation rooms. “i’m just retaking his testimony, making sure his argument with clary wasn’t severe enough to cause him to lash out negatively. you never know how people react until they’ve faced the worst.”

attorney penhallow was quiet for a minute, mind stewing over helen’s statement. “yes, but that’s the thing. my client has told you that he loves his fianceé, and definitely wouldn’t have set fire to her life’s work. he was upset on the night in question, but he’s never been into arson so why should he start now?” 

helen didn’t have a response to this, so she pushed open the door to see jace herondale staring and scowling at the wall, his eyes tight. 

“he still has no alibi,” helen said, glancing quickly back at the other woman before making her way to sit across from her suspect. “and as far as i’m concerned, that’s the only thing i need to rule him out.”

attorney penhallow pulled up a chair to sit next to her client, gesturing for him to stay quiet. “we can’t offer you his alibi.”

“then i can’t release him,” helen shot back sitting back in her seat to observe mr. herondale. he didn’t seem bothered that they were talking about him without consulting him, which was. interesting, considering his previous behavior. 

“is it just the lack of an alibi, detective? because that’s not a very strong case.”

“maybe not,” helen agreed, watching the triumphant look in aline’s face. “but mr. herondale hanging out with magnus bane, a convicted pyromaniac, does make it very strong.”

the triumphant look fell. helen watched as jace herondale’s face turned white and he turned to his attorney, as if this was the one piece of evidence he hadn’t thought would be unearthed.

“three times in the week before the fire,” helen continued, taking sweet joy in the tightening of aline’s eyes. “and before that, their meetings were sporadic. unplanned. in fact, according to clary, the two of them have never gotten along.”

for a moment, jace herondale studied her, his eyes calculating and suspicious. then, he leaned forward, ignoring aline’s attempt to keep him back, and made direct eye contact with helen. “if i give you my alibi, will you keep that particular piece of information a secret from clary?”

* * *

bars were always crowded on friday nights, which is exactly why helen didn’t like going out. but appointments, professional or sexual, were necessary to keep, even if both of them happened to be with the same person. 

“i was starting to think you’d gotten lost,” aline confessed, raising an eyebrow at helen’s jeans and jacket ensemble. “it’s not like you to be even slightly late.”

helen rolled her eyes, gesturing for the bartender and ordering before turning back to her date. “we’ve gone on two dates, aline. this, between us, isn’t serious enough for me to always be punctual.”

“ouch,” aline laughed, stepping closer. “and here i was thinking that in a few year’s time, we would get engaged and you would burn down my firm.”

it was a low blow, bringing their work into banter, and helen scowled. “you’re not funny. there was no way to confirm that he hadn’t done it.”

aline laughed yet again, stepping closer until her perfume was all helen could smell. “oh come on, sweetheart. you know i’m just jerking your chain.”

she didn’t wait for a response before she was kissing helen, arms winding around helen’s waist to hold her still. helen wanted to push back, she really did but. 

aline was wearing her fruit flavored lipstick, with the full knowledge that it drove helen insane. and helen was a weak, weak woman. 

she pushed aline back slightly, enough to be able to meet her gaze head-on. “you’re a terrible, terrible person, you know that?”

and then, before there could be some sort of defense, helen pulled her close, kissing aline back. 

the flavor, she would later learn, was honey.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me and send me prompts on tumblr [@alinexhelen](https://alinexhelen.tumblr.com/)
> 
> you can also support this fic on tumblr by reblogging [this post](https://alinexhelen.tumblr.com/post/181477105582/signals-crossing-can-get-confusing)


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